A simulated Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled for Monday, October 27 at approximately 17:00 UTC between ESA astronaut, Frank De Winne, ON1DWN, and youth attending the Technopolis in Mechelen, Belgium. This training session is a terrestrial-based amateur radio contact using ARISS-equivalent equipment.

HOUSTON -- NASA Television will broadcast two special messages from International Space Station crew members, one that urges all Americans to exercise their right to vote and another marking the station's 10th birthday.

The messages will be broadcast beginning at 11 a.m. CDT, Monday, Oct. 27, on both standard definition and high-definition NASA TV. The HD version also will be broadcast at 11 a.m. CDT, Tuesday, Oct. 28, and Wednesday, Oct. 29.

Speeding 210 miles above Earth at five miles per second, Expedition 18 Commander E. Michael Fincke and Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff will join millions of Americans and cast their votes in the Nov. 4 election. Thanks to a Texas bill passed in 1997, Fincke and Chamitoff will join several past astronauts who have voted from orbit.

Frank De Winne, ON1DWN, has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) simulated contact with students in Technopolis, Mechelen, Belgium on Monday, October 27. De Winne plans to fly on Expedition 19 in May 2009.

Chris Hadfield, KC5RNJ/VA3OOG, and Cady Coleman, KC5ZTH, have been scheduled for an ARISS simulated contact on Thursday, November 6. Hadfield and Coleman are currently assigned as back-up Expedition 19 crew members.